The Reason
by swimmerKim
Summary: Prompt from Tumblr: "A mitchsen where Beca develops a drinking problem and becomes kind of abusive towards Aubrey." TW: Alcoholism. Domestic Abuse. A/N: I used these trigger warnings to be safe. I couldn't bring myself to write anything graphic or prolonged and I think they move the story along fine.


Aubrey was proud of her girlfriend. She had graduated from Barden University with a double major in music and business. In the four months since graduation, she was already making a name for herself in the Atlanta club scene. Although there were numerous upsides to Beca's job, like always being on the list to club openings, free drinks, and meeting celebrities, Aubrey didn't like how much her girlfriend was drinking. The blonde understood having a couple of celebratory drinks after finishing her set, that was always what the brunette had limited herself to during college. But Aubrey had noticed that Beca was drinking more as time went on. It started as increased frequency before she started having three drinks after her set instead of two. In the beginning, Aubrey ignored it, chalking it up to Beca enjoying no longer having to wake up for class and could sleep as late as she wanted.

As time went on, the blonde found that her girlfriend did not curb her drinking and her habits only became more extreme. The brunette quickly got to the point where she'd have at least five drinks after each gig and would continue drinking as she and some other DJs went out. Most nights the brunette wouldn't get home until Aubrey was getting ready for work. Beca wasn't a lovey, funny drunk either she was a horny, aggressive drunk. If the DJ had any energy left after being out all night, she would often try to pull Aubrey back to their bedroom so "she could show the blonde how much she loved her." Having a height and weight advantage, Aubrey was able to fight off Beca's drunken advances and convince her to go to sleep.

One day, things changed. Aubrey had gotten out of the shower and was looking for an outfit, wanting to get ready for work as quick as possible so she wouldn't have to deal with a drunk Beca. The blonde had a big case that day and didn't want to waste energy fighting off her girlfriend. As Aubrey was putting on the final touches on her make up, she felt a pair of small hands snake around her waist and begin palming her breasts. "Beca, I have to get ready for court. I'm already running late. We can have sex later."

Aubrey could see the change in her girlfriend's demeanor in the mirror from playful and horny to angry. "You never have time for me anymore! All I ever do is work on mixes and play gigs for 18 hours a day and then I come home and you don't want to have sex, ever. Come on, just a little quicky."

"I'm sorry Beca, but I really do have to be at the court house in 20 minutes and—"

The blonde was cut off by a hot, stinging feeling in her cheek. At first she didn't even know what had happened. It wasn't until she saw Beca with a raised hand and a look of anger in her eyes that Aubrey had never seen before that she registered what had happened. "Beca. You just hit me."

The look of rage on the brunette's face quickly turned to regret as she realized what she had done. Tears immediately began to fall from Beca's eyes out of guilt. "I'm so sorry Aubrey. I love you so much. I don't know why I did that. I'm a little drunk and sexually frustrated. I know that's not an excuse, but I've just been so on edge lately that I just snapped. I'm so sorry. It'll never happen again. I promise."

Aubrey's heart broke as she saw her girlfriend bawling her eyes out. She knew that Beca hadn't meant to hurt her and she had never laid a hand on her in the past. The blonde made her way over to the still sobbing DJ and wrapped her arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I know you didn't mean it Beca and I still love you. I think you should take the day off. You're obviously over work and sleep deprived so why don't you go to sleep and we'll talk about this when I get home."

Beca nodded her head and made her way over to the bed and climbed under the covers. Aubrey kissed Beca's forehead before leaving her girlfriend to get some much needed rest and left for a day in the courthouse.

All during court, Aubrey's mind was in another place. She knew that she should have been paying attention to the plaintiff, but couldn't help but think about what had happened with Beca that morning. In the past she had always been hard on girls who went back with their cheating boyfriends because if they did it once they would do it again. But this was Beca, her small, adorable, acapella nerd girlfriend. It had to have just been all of those things the brunette had said creating a perfect storm right?

When court was dismissed for the day, Aubrey didn't waste any time getting into her car and driving home to see Beca. The blonde walked into the bedroom to find the bed made and no sign of the DJ. All she found was a note on the nightstand that said, "Sorry for this morning. Won't happen again. Had to go to work. See you tonight –Beca."

Aubrey was disappointed that Beca had gone to work despite her asking her not to, but thought it was probably difficult for the DJ to take off of work with her album set to come out in a month. The blonde could only hope that Beca would find someone to cover for her at the club tonight so she could come home and talk things out with Aubrey instead of getting drunk.

An hour later, the apartment door opened and a sober Beca hesitantly walked towards the couch and sat down opposite of Aubrey. For a few moments, they sat in silence until Beca finally spoke. "I honestly don't know what to say about this morning. There's no defending my actions. It's clear-cut domestic violence, you know this as well as anyone. I can't even begin to thank you for not calling the cops on me this morning. Aubrey, I really am sorry for what happened this morning, it's easily one of my biggest regrets. But I really don't want you to leave me. I'll do anything to prove to you that it really was a one time thing and won't happen again. I'm sorry for rambling, but I had to put all of my cards on the table. Now I want hear exactly what you're thinking."

"I'm not going to lie Beca, this morning you hurt me more than physically. Before this morning I thought you were the best girlfriend I could have asked for, you have your flaws of course, but they're what make you human. What happened this morning was not a cute quirky flaw, but an actual problem that I can't ignore anymore; Beca, I think you're an alcoholic."

The brunette sat in a stunned silence. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She'd be the first to admit that she was drinking more than she had when she had in college, but there was not way she could be an alcoholic. Alcoholics couldn't hold down a job and got into fights at bars. Hitting Aubrey had been a mistake that she would regret for the rest of her life, but this was one incident.

Sensing the internal struggle her girlfriend was having, Aubrey continued. "When you think of an alcoholic, you think of the angry, aggressive guy at the bar drowning his sorrows in beer and talking about all of the colleges he could have played for if it wasn't for his bum knee, right?"

Beca nodded her head.

The blonde smiled and took the brunette's hand. "That's what society thinks alcoholism is, but it's actually a dependence on alcohol. It seems like since you graduated you've been using alcohol to deal with some bigger pain that you didn't have before. Can you think of anything that's changed since college? From what you told me earlier it sounds like you've been more stressed."

"All my life music was my passion, my escape from the problems I was having at the time. I had always heard that you should do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life. I figured for me this would be music. And while I was DJing at the station and the first couple of months out of college, I really did enjoy what I was doing, but when things got stressful I didn't have my outlet to turn to anymore. When I was stressed about work I would literally be turning to work. The only thing that helped me with my stress was alcohol. When I started coming home drunk, I felt like you were judging me and that angered me because you're my girlfriend and I didn't think that was what girlfriends were supposed to do. In the still reasonable part of my brain, I knew that you were just worried about me, but I kept telling myself that you didn't know what kind of stress I'm under. This morning everything snapped. I know that's no excuse, but it's all I have. I don't want it to happen again and I'll do anything I can to make it up to you."

"Beca, I know you never meant to hurt me. But I also can't overlook it completely. All I want is for you to quit drinking for at least six months. If you go a month without having a drop of alcohol, then I'll know that our relationship still has a chance. If you even have a sip, then I will have to leave you. Do you understand?"

"Of course Bree. I'll do anything for you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It had been a month since the incident and Beca had kept her promise to Aubrey not to drink and their relationship had gotten back to normal. Beca had started running with Aubrey for stress relief in lieu of drinking. Although they rarely talked during, it was good bonding for the couple.

After finding a more productive and calming way to deal with work stress, Beca was finding mixing so much easier. The brunette was mixing so efficiently that her album release date was moved up by three months.

"Ok Becs, it's been six month and you haven't had a drink. I'm so proud of you for giving up alcohol cold turkey and finding another outlet for your stress. What do you say we go somewhere for dinner and a celebratory drink?"

"Thanks Bree, it really means a lot to hear you say that. I'd love to go out to dinner with you, but I don't think drinking is the best way to celebrate giving up drinking. Plus, after seeing all of the good being sober has done for me, I might adapt it as a permanent lifestyle choice."

"I think that's really admirable of you."

"Thanks. And don't worry, I can think of a few other ways you can reward me."

Aubrey rolled her eyes and lightly slapped Beca's arm. "You're lucky I love you."

"Yes I am."


End file.
